The structure of Gozo
Limestone hills.
That pretty much says it all, if you know much about geology. Limestone has a tendency to dissolve (and this limestone is rather...obvious. You can see the fossils in it. Not much metamorphosizing there).
So, lots of low hills. The towns are on the flat tops of the hills, and the farms are on the terraces going down the sides and then in the valleys. They make the most of the little soil they have, here. No rivers, only one freshwater spring--it's all about collecting water during the rainy season and conserving it through the hot, dry summer. (Also, desalination, which is really, really obvious in the tap water. My guide on Friday said that most people have additional filters on their home water supply. My very fancy hotel clearly does not.)
We had a little rain yesterday, not much, but all the succulets are fat and fleshy. They didn't seem too dried out before, actually. Everything here has leathery, thick leaves, to conserve water through the summer. Even the pine needles are fat and juicy, and the pine cones are sealed up tight like tortise shells, not layered like pine cones in North America.
Every town has a church in the middle of it. Views from any height (say, from the citadel) show towns on all surrounding hills, and churches--all Catholic--poking up from them, the tallest buildings, with spires and domes. The effect when the sun is low is that the hilltops are touched with the light of deity while the valleys are deep and dark.